I’m pleased to report that the 5th Moscow Pride went extremely well. Waiting in the headquarters, before the Pride, with over 30 Russian, Belorussian, and International activists, everyone was nervous. Looking at the history of the Pride, and the 40 people arrested last year, those participating were fearing the worst, and hoping for the best.

What helped this year was the use of disinformation, which kept the police and skinheads far away from the real action. As the opposition gathered in front of city hall, gay pride activists marched in a different part of the city.

When we got the call the Pride was to begin, everyone quickly went in small groups to the designated area. As soon as activists arrived, the pride began. In Russian, there were shouts of “Russia without homophobes” and “Rights for gays,” while participants grabbed hold of the 20m flag, hand-sewn and brought in from Belorussia.

Moscow Pride 2010, photograph by Charles Meacham

As quickly as it started, everything evaporated. The flag was folded up, and activists dashed in different directions. Police hadn’t arrived yet, but everyone knew they were coming. Only a few minutes after people scattered, and a police van pulled up. But, there was no one to arrest.

Much later, those who participated in the Pride began to gather to celebrate today’s victory. Let’s just say everyone was quite happy, especially proving the Mayor wrong who said no gay pride could take place in Moscow …

Earlier this morning there was another court hearing concerning the banned march. The opposition presented a feeble argument. Getting up before the judge, the opposition lawyer said the pride event was banned by the Mayor because a different event was already scheduled for that day, a rally in support of PM Vladimir Putin. When Nikolai got up to speak on the absurdity of this ‘Putin argument’, especially as he’d been the very first at the courthouse the day the law allowed applying for the permit, the judge couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle. However, in the end Gay Russia’s attempt to legally hold the march was futile.

Nikolai addressing the media after the court hearing

A homophobic lady passing by the court house gets into a discussion with Vlad Kuzn etsov, an activist from GayBelarus

While national world governments have not been vocal in supporting the Moscow Gay Pride march, a group of Human Rights activists here in Moscow have taken to the web using every press outlet they have to spread the word about what’s going on…

We wait patiently in the Moscow courtroom. The judge is in his chambers deciding the legality of the 5th Moscow Pride march. Everyone stands as the judge returns. His announcement – the ban is upheld.

The “Walk with Pride” project is currently in Moscow to document the latest attempt to hold Moscow Pride. Each year the group Gay Russia, led by LGBT rights activist Nikolai Alekseev, has conflicts with the courts, Moscow’s homophobic Mayor Yury Luzhkov, the police, religious groups, and even neo-Nazis while attempting to demonstrate for equal rights.

While in Minsk, Chad had made contact with Nikolai and approached him about photographing the preparations for this year’s Moscow pride. Nothing was guaranteed, so we were more than a little relieved to get our first call from Nikolai on Wednesday morning asking if we’d like to accompany him to a preliminary hearing concerning the Mayor’s ban on Moscow Pride.

Nikolai (left), Alexey, and a lawyer for the Prefecture await another hearing concerning the Mayor's ban on Moscow Pride

Over the next couple of days we are witness to many court hearings, but each failed to provide the group with the basic right of assembly.

Arrival of Human Rights supporters in Moscow, including Peter Tatchell, from Outrage!, Louice-Georges Tin of IDAHO, and Andy Harley, from UKGayNews.

On Thursday afternoon, following the most recent court decision to uphold the ban, a press conference is held. During this conference activist Peter Tatchell and other key members of Human Rights organizations, spoke out condemning the ban.

Peter Tatchell (right) and others speak out against the ban on Moscow Pride.

“He should be put on trial for violating the Russian constitution – the real criminals are not the organizers of Moscow Pride, but the Mayor of Moscow and the judges who uphold this illegal ban.” – Peter Tatchell, coordinator for the British HR group Outrage!

Gay Russia is a Human Rights portal for the LGBT community in Russia. It was founded by activist Nikolai Alekseev, and aims to raise awareness about LGBT issues in Russia.http://www.gayrussia.ru

Gay.ru – A forum and community site for the Russian LGBT community. The website has information in both Russian and English, and over 15,000 articles/documents providing information for visitors to gay.ru.http://www.gay.ru

The Walk with Pride Project

This is a gay issue.
This is a straight issue.
This is a human rights issue.

Walk With Pride (WWP) is a project to photograph and document gay pride parades around the globe. Our aim is to promote pride, empathy, and understanding on an international level, while highlighting the similarities and differences in gay rights and gay culture around the world.

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